Pins and Needles
by clemonlime
Summary: I didn't want to write a nurse AU but then i ended up basically writing a nurse AU. also a love at first sight fic. Or, the one where Spencer needs to get blood work done and he accidentally picks up a boyfriend in the process.


Spencer tapped his feet impatiently on the linoleum, watching as his ride took his time picking out a brand of bandaids that could have been picked up any other time, rather than right before his first blood lab of the new year. He wasn't necessarily looking forward to it, but he definitely didn't want to be late. His anxiety was pushing his irritation to the forefront and it really didn't make him pleasant to be around. He knew that, he didn't care if Derek knew that. He just needed to get there and get out before he tackled someone who looked at him wrong.

"Can you cut out the lame percussion, pretty boy? This isn't high school band. I'm almost done. You'll be on time, I promise."

"You know this is aggravating for me," Spencer muttered, scratching the inside of his wrist and regretting his decision to leave his lucky bracelet at home. "I just want to go, get blood taken out of my arm, and leave. Can we just do that? Then you can stare at the Dora bandaids all you want-"

"Ah," Derek made an agreeable noise and plucked the box right in the middle of his vision and tucked it under his arm. "Were you saying something?" He looked over to Spencer, who was looking at him with all the contempt that an anxious man running semi-late for his doctor appointment might be. The other man just shrugged and proceeded to the front counter to pay, Spencer whining and dragging his feet as he followed.

The drive there wasn't as bad as he anticipated, as it was only three o'clock and everyone who actually had a job was busy except for Derek, who made up an elaborate lie in order to drive Spencer to this appointment that he'd been dreading for the past week.

"You sure you're okay?" Derek asked quietly, his wrists resting on the steering wheel as they sat in the shade, waiting until the last second to get out of the car. "I mean, all of this has to have totally wrecked your insides, but is your head okay?"

Spencer rolled his eyes, "My head's fine."

"Honestly?"

"Don't be a mom. I don't need two of those," Spencer said, wrapping his hand around the door handle, "But yeah. I'm all good. Great, even."

They pushed their doors open in unison, something they'd never noticed and probably never would, and walked up the uneven sidewalk toward the building that housed probably more needles than Spencer wanted to be near in his lifetime, much less for thirty minutes of his day. His Saturday, no less.

The waiting room was silent, even though there had to be at least ten different pairs of people sitting in utterly embarrassingly stiff chairs that he knew would wreck his posture, but he didn't plan on seeing these people for another month, anyway.

Spencer sat in the empty off-room, rolling one of the toy trucks for kids around with his foot as Derek signed him in. He had no idea how to do any of this, it had been awhile since he'd threatened his liver's health this bad. Last time was in eighth grade.

"Okay," Derek slumped into the chair next to him before he could think about it any further. "We've only gotta wait like fifteen minutes but then we're golden."

"Right," Spencer let himself slouch as he pulled his phone out of his pocket and proceeded to check out just how bad the reception was in the place. And the answer to that was somewhere between God-Awful and Horrid, so he didn't bother. He tucked his phone back into his pocket and surveilled the place, wondering what they were doing there and if any of them were going to get their insides pulled to the outside through a small tube.

Derek was somehow completely fine with the worst internet speed ever and was content on his phone, but Spencer didn't want only one of them to be miserable.

"You going back with me?" Spencer asked somewhat shyly, knocking his shoulder into his friend's.

"You're an adult, why would I?" Derek answered without thinking before he paused and looked to Spencer in apology, "I mean... like, I'm pretty sure when they call you, they'll show you where to go."

"Oh, okay," Spencer said, glad that they'd reached that point in their friendship where the second they fucked up, they could explain and everything would be peachy. Spencer's anxiety was usually heightened by those weird situations, but it felt nice to get that Get Out of Jail Free Card so easily and without hassle.

After a long, not-so-comfortable silence, his name was called and without even looking up, tossing his phone into Derek's lap. He walked halfway across the room before looking up and making eye contact with absolutely the most ideal man he could have ever created in any generation of the Sims.

But this guy was a _nurse._ Or was he a phlebotomist? He wasn't sure. If this was going to be the man to take blood out of him, he was happy to oblige.

"Follow me," he smiled and held the heavy door open for Spencer, who stepped in and then to the side so that this handsome stranger could lead him to the room with needles or whatever the fuck he wanted because at that point, he was desperate to make a good impression.

Spencer followed the man down one of the most annoyingly confusing and narrow hallways he'd ever seen. He passed so many weird, tile rooms with those wooden benches with wax paper on them that he almost thought he broke the Matrix. He was broken out of his mental observations when the guy stopped and turned into a small room without a door where a giant chair with obnoxious arm rests sat up on stilts.

"You can sit there, uh..." The dark-haired man squinted at a clipboard, holding it an inch from his eyes, "Spencer. Spencer Reid. Huh."

"What?" Spencer looked at him, bewildered. That reaction wasn't anything like what he expected. Plus, the sound of his name—his FULL name, no less—coming out of those lips was one he was going to store away for later.

"You look super familiar. Do I know you?" The eyes were trained on him now, and he rested his bare forearms on the cold plastic arms of the chair and tapped on the edges as his heartbeat sped up. He prayed to God that he wasn't about to have a panic attack in front of the attractive person in front of him. His eyes accidentally fell on the tattoos that were peeking out from behind the light green sleeves of his scrubs and he drew in a quick breath.

"I think I'd remember you if we had crossed paths," Spencer said, almost breathlessly. He pulled his sweater sleeves down all the way, terrified of the reaction he might get if those dumb latitude lines and circular scars across the paler parts of his arms were hit by the overhead light.

"Well, maybe it's just deja vu," the man (Aaron, as Spencer could read from his name tag) smiled and shrugged, placing the clipboard onto a countertop and pulling on a pair of gloves. He gave Spencer a look, one that was edging on confusion, before pointing to his left arm, "I'm gonna need that."

"Um?" Spencer looked down at it before quickly realizing what that was supposed to mean, "Oh, I've gotten blood drawn before. They get it from my hands. Can't find a vein in the elbow."

Aaron squinted at him again but nodded and pulled out a drawer. He brought out a tourniquet, a needle (barf), a couple generally small (but large in the case of filling them with his _blood_ ) bottles, and a giant tube. Spencer almost felt his heart flutter when Aaron's hands took his left one and turned it around, looking at it. "Yeah, you have bunches of little scars where they've pricked you in this one. I don't want to hurt you. Do you mind if I-"

"I'm actually left handed, so that would work out well," Spencer rushed out.

Aaron gave him a look, and Spencer would have flinched if the older man didn't immediately follow it with, "Why didn't you tell me that, goofball? I don't want your hand aching while you're writing your number down. Hold on, let's switch this around."

Spencer wouldn't have caught the pickup line if he hadn't been staring at Aaron's lips. He felt the tourniquet around his arm tighten and he opened his mouth to ask, but quickly looked away when he saw the needle. He took in a deep breath and held it. He had officially ruined needles for himself.

"Breathe normally. Focus on the breath," Aaron mumbled quietly, "It'll make this a lot better."

Spencer nodded and took a few deep breaths. He felt the needle go in, a pinch he definitely hadn't missed, but he felt Aaron's thumb gently rubbing against his wrist and decided to put all of his focusing power on that.

It wasn't long before it was over. Spencer glanced back over as a piece of cotton and some masking tape was wrapped around his hand to stop the bleeding. It hurt like a bitch, but he was willing to look past it if it meant not looking like a wuss in front of Aaron.

"Alright," Aaron said, standing and holding out a hand to pull Spencer out of the seat. He grabbed a scrap piece of paper and held it out to Spencer with a pen, "Number, please."

Spencer glanced down at the paper wearily, "Doesn't the clipboard already have my number?"

"Well, I'm pretty sure the number in your record belongs to a Mr. Derek Morgan, and I'm praying to my lucky stars that he's either your dad or a really good buddy," Aaron pushed the things in his hands toward Spencer again, "And if all things go to plan, I hope to frame this later."

"Why is Derek's number in my information?"

"Um," Aaron picked up the clipboard again and chuckled, "It says that you don't like phone calls."

Spencer's neck turned bright red and he frowned, "I mean, yeah, but... this is embarrassing."

"Don't worry, no one likes phone calls. I _promise_ I will not call without your consent," Aaron said, grinning widely as Spencer took the paper and pen and hurriedly wrote his digits down as neatly as he could while his hands were shaking and his heart was beating out of his chest.

"Hey, I think..." Spencer stood up straighter as Aaron tucked the paper in his pocket. "I think, like, you don't know what you're getting into. Or whatever."

"I definitely don't know what I'm getting into. But I have a feeling whatever you have in store is not only worth my time, but also going to make me _incredibly_ clingy and annoying," Aaron said, that goofy grin on his face untouched and consistent, "So I think you don't know what _you're_ getting into either."

Spencer opened his mouth to respond but just closed his mouth and shook his head, unable to hold back a small smile. Aaron's eyes lit up.

"Yes, I definitely want to date you," Aaron nodded to himself, "I get off work at five, can I text you then? Or even earlier?"

"Please don't text me while you're needling people," Spencer cringed.

"I won't. And if I am, you won't know it," Aaron said, linking his pinky with Spencer's and leading him back down the hallway.

As soon as the heavy door closed behind him and he was back in that waiting room, his brain caught up to everything that had happened and his face turned even redder. He ducked his head and walked over to Derek, tugging on his sleeve so that he'd look up from his phone. And as soon as he did, his eyebrows raised and he stood, asking Spencer if he was having a panic attack, to which the brunette responded, _"No, but I have a date tonight."_

* * *

Spencer sat on his bed, staring at his phone and watching as five o'clock rolled around and shone on the screen. He hadn't gotten any texts from his knight in green scrubs, and as much as he knew the guy had an actual job, he still felt bummed. And slightly embarrassed that he'd been staring at his phone since he left and waiting for the message that he wouldn't doubt would make his face break out in a grin that would split his face in two.

He laid on his back, spreading out like a starfish with his phone still tightly grasped in his right hand, hoping that Aaron was a nocturnal person like he was and would be okay with a date later that day rather than tomorrow because if he had to wait to see Aaron again he felt like he'd explode.

Sure enough, five minutes after he began thinking about things he could do to fill time tonight if Aaron decided to wait until the next day, his phone buzzed with a text from an unknown number and he actually screamed.

 _Unknown: Oh._ _My_ _. God._

 _Unknown: I'm so sorry I took so long to text._

 _Unknown: Had a person that had never had blood drawn before. Took way_ _too long._

Spencer grinned at his phone just like he knew he would. He changed the contact name to "A," as he'd never had a friend whose name started with A. He liked his contacts to only be initials, he couldn't manage too many friends in order to keep with his organizational habits.

S: _It's fine._

A: _Not really. Literally couldn't stop thinking of you._

A: _Hopefully that isn't overstepping._

A: _I only met you two hours ago._

S: _No, I've been the same. I wasn't going to be the first to admit it, though._

A: _Shit, did I make you uncomfortable?_

S: _No, I'm just a lot more anxious than you._

A: _You'd be surprised._

A: Actually that _might be presumptuous._

A: _maaaaaybe_ _you're a little ahead._

Spencer scoffed. He was glad Aaron clarified, though. He was obviously a very nervous and anxious person.

S: _Maybe._

S: _So... about that date..._

A: _YES_

A: _As soon as possible, please._

 _A_ _: Can't wait anymore._

A: _Actually, can_ _we_ _meet_ _somewhere? Like right now._

Spencer stood from the bed and ran into the living room, where Derek was still trying to figure out the XBOX setup. "Hey, Morgan, I'm gonna need you to drive me somewhere."

"Where?" He asked, placing the cord on the ground worriedly.

"Nothing's on fire. I just... I'm meeting someone."

"The guy? From the place?"

Spencer gave him a look, "Yes, the guy from the place."

"Where are we meeting him?" Derek asked warily. "If you say 'alley,' I might punch you."

"I, um... I actually don't know. Let's just get in the car and I'll text him while we're on the way," Spencer said, walking toward the door with his phone held two inches from his eyes as he feverously texted Aaron.

S: _Where are we meeting? I'm on the way now._

A: _How about we meet in front of the lab and you can follow me to this really cool bookstore downtown._

A: _Somehow_ _I get the vibe from you that just a normal coffee place is too low-maintenance._

S: _No, that's fine._ _I love books._

S: _also_ _I'm getting a friend to drive me so would it be okay if I could just ride with you after we meet you in the parking lot of the lab?_

S: _Sorry_

A: _No need to apologize_

A: _I actually prefer this arrangement_

A: _We can talk more._

A: _Plus,_ _you get to see my road rage for all of the fifteen minutes it takes to get from the lab to the champagne bar._

S: _Champagne bar?_

A: _Name of the place._

A: _For some reason._

Spencer rolled his eyes and slipped into the passenger seat, buckling up and waiting patiently for Derek to follow. He was surprised that he was so eager to go on this first date, but it was definitely happening, and as long as the care-free nature he had going on stayed while he was around Aaron.

Derek opened the driver's side door and leaned down, giving Spencer one of his fatherly looks that he made when he worried that Spencer was rushing into something, "Spencer, I think you're rushing into this."

"I definitely am," Spencer replied, setting his phone on his thigh, "Shouldn't that be good? I would never do this."

"Yeah. You would _never_ do this," Derek sat down but didn't make any move to start the car, "That's the reddest flag I could ever imagine in your world. If you're not overthinking now, you will later."

"I... I really don't think I will," the brunette said honestly, "Like, this may be wishful thinking, but I _openly flirted_ with Aaron earlier. And I haven't regretted it."

"Okay, but... I'll be on call," Derek said carefully, fishing his keys from his pocket. "If anything makes you start to hyperventilate..."

"He works with needles, I'm sure he knows how to calm down panicked people."

"Not _your_ type of panic. And I mean that in the best way," Derek muttered, starting the engine.

Aaron's car was one of those cars you'd probably not notice in a crowd, but somehow, it fit Aaron perfectly. Mostly because it was just the right size to where his head wouldn't be too close or too far from the roof of the car, which Spencer imagined was a criterion that ran through every tall person's mind when buying a car.

Derek insisted that he meet this tall, dark and handsome stranger before he took away his best friend, but as he pulled into a parking spot, he couldn't even start to unbuckle before Aaron was on his feet and walking over with a smile on his face.

"Hi," he said as soon as the window was rolled down. "I'm Aaron, you must be Derek?"

Derek looked over at Spencer, "You talked about me?"

"No," Aaron quickly said, sensing the tension in the other man's voice, "You were listed as Spencer's contact, and I had a passing remark about it. You could have been anyone, I just made a guess."

Spencer grinned at him before unbuckling. "Thanks, Morgan. I'll call you if I need to be picked up."

"I'll probably be at Sav's," Derek said carefully, eyeing him. "But yeah, my ringer will be on."

"Okay!" Spencer opened the door and jumped out, running around the front of the car and giving a goofy smile to Aaron, who mirrored his facial expression and they both shyly waved as Derek pulled out of the empty parking lot.

After watching Derek's car disappear around the corner, both Aaron and Spencer turned to each other and simultaneously and passionately told the other, "I usually don't do this."

Spencer closed his mouth. Aaron just gave him an amused look.

"Well, now that the cat's out of the bag," Aaron laughed, he reached down and linked their pinkies again, "Let's go."

Spencer nodded excitedly, swallowing through the slowly increasing feeling that he wasn't foolish enough to call love, before following Aaron to the just-right car and pushing everything in his brain aside for the time being.

* * *

They sat in the parking lot of the Champagne Bar for a long time. Both of them, totally unbeknownst to the other, were staring up at the building with the same terrified expression, their heads going through every possible way not to mess this up, because if this was the person they would spend the rest of their life with (and they were sure it was), they didn't want the story of their first date to be as embarrassing as it could be.

"Alright," Aaron said eventually, swallowing through his dry throat. "Wanna go in?"

"Might as well," Spencer replied, his voice shaking much more than he would like.

"When you said you're more anxious than me," Aaron glanced over at him with his hand on the door handle and a nervous smirk on his face, "I really hope you didn't put money on it."

"Shut up," Spencer laughed and pushed the door open. "You can't possibly be as freaked out by this as I am."

"Are we making this a competition?" Aaron closed the door with his hip and held out his hand for Spencer to take, which he did with no hesitation. They both grimaced at how sweaty their hands were, so they reset by letting go and wiping their palms on their pants and reconnecting.

"I'm competitive," Spencer shrugged. He almost stumbled on the curb but caught himself.

"I figured." He held the door open for the brunette who ducked under his arm and almost passed out from the combination of awesome coffee smell and the sight of the place. Bookshelves sliced and diced the large space into individual rooms, and when he glanced up to see that there was a separate floor altogether, he was pretty sure it was the same deal.

"Aaron, this place is amazing!"

"I'm glad you think so. You like tattoos, I think most people who like tattoos like this place," Aaron mumbled. He pointed to the counter that was just a few feet from the front door, "Do you want coffee? Or cake—man, they have the best cakes here."

"I'm up for cake," Spencer said agreeably. When they stepped up to the counter, Spencer gripped Aaron's hand just a bit tighter, completely overwhelmed by the large menu of things that hung over the various coffee machines.

"I can order something that I think you'd like, if you want," Aaron told him, to which Spencer smiled and nodded.

Two cappuccinos and a frankly mammoth slice of coconut cake later, and they were sat on one of the couches near the back of the entire room. It had taken awhile to warm up-Spencer had his ankles crossed and Aaron's left leg was bouncing so hard he was afraid it might fall off—but Aaron had found a way to start conversation and Spencer thought he could smile any more than he already was.

Spencer had made a censorable noise after his first bite and Aaron figured he could say something other than an icebreaker that would make Spencer uncomfortable, so he just said, "The only cake I've had that compares to this place is over in Vegas."

"Vegas?" Spencer asked excitedly, wrapping his hands around his oversized cappuccino mug and made a surprised sound. "I used to live there."

"What a coincidence," Aaron said, smiling to himself as his conversation starter landed. "But, yeah, I go every Sunday on my day off."

Spencer raised an eyebrow, "You gamble?"

"Yeah, I gamble," Aaron scoffed and looked at an imaginary onlooker before turning back to Spencer, "Do you have a thing against gambling?"

"I'm a fan..." Spencer said quietly, hiding a smile behind his fingertips. "But I guess it depends if you're good at it."

"You planning on coming with me?" Aaron smirked but quickly decided to take the opportunity to ironically praise himself, "But yes, I'm quite skilled at the gambling acts."

"I have a question," Spencer sat up straighter and leaned forward, cynically feigning interest, "How do you _know_ that you're good at gambling?"

"Well, all the cute guys bring me free sodas," Aaron bragged with a wide grin, "I guess they just notice I'm doing awesome and they come around with trays full of Pepsi."

Spencer broke out into laughter. Both of them felt eyes on them, but neither of them for the first time in their lives didn't care. He kept laughing but tried to explain what was so funny during his fit of giggles, "You... There are so many things that... are making me laugh... I can't."

"Well, explain!" Aaron said, not even trying to hide his loving look toward the hysterical brunette, "I want to know what's funny so I can make you laugh like this again."

Spencer wiped his eyes, "I think they're giving you free sodas because you're doing badly and losing money, Aaron! And why would you be flattered if you got a _Pepsi_?"

Aaron gave him a pout. "Now I'm insecure about my gambling abilities."

"Good! Now you can do better things with your Sundays," Spencer said excitedly.

"Like go on dates with you?" Aaron decided to just go for it.

Spencer shook his head, almost speechless, "I mean... yes..."

"Good! Should I bring out my calendar and book my next five Sundays?" He offered with a grin.

"If you think you'll forget," Spencer offered. He grabbed the fork and took another bite of cake. "I certainly won't."

Aaron frowned, "I wouldn't forget either."

Spencer smiled, "No, I know you wouldn't."

"Good," he nodded with his own shy smile, "I didn't want you to think I was more of a douche than I actually am."

Spencer didn't have an answer to that. He just stared at the other man, who just stared back at him.

"Hey, do you wanna..." Spencer gestured over his shoulder with his thumb, "I think Derek's spending the night with a friend..."

"You want to break the golden rule of first dates?" Aaron asked with a smile.

"Which one?"

"The sex one, not the murder one."

"Yeah, I'm willing to break the rules."

"I have never been so attracted to someone in my life," Aaron stood up and grabbed Spencer's hand, dragging him to the exit.

* * *

Spencer walked into his bedroom trying his best to seem unfazed his nakedness, using his towel to keep his hair out of his face like he always did. He pulled out a pair of jeans and the most convenient shirt he owned. He was completely dressed and shaking the towel out of his hair when he heard footsteps behind him. He almost wanted to turn and take in the sight of that beautiful and very _passionate_ man naked in his bedroom, but respected his privacy and didn't look. He also didn't want to creep him out.

"I don't know what your size is, I have some boxers I never opened from Christmas if you'd like to borrow a pair," Spencer said carefully, grimacing at the situation he'd put himself into.

"Sounds good." He could hear the smile and his cheeks burned.

"Like I said, still don't know your clothes size, but I like to wear big clothes anyway if you want to grab some."

"I'm okay. Not the first time I've worn my clothes several days in a row," Aaron shrugged.

He'd never done that before so he wasn't sure if he should overact, but it felt like the floor was being tugged out from under him when he realized Aaron was probably going to leave. He didn't feel like pretending like he was feeling great about their arrangement, so he turned around and said, "I'll be in the living room if you need anything."

He swore he saw Aaron's face fall, but Aaron gave him a nod anyway before he turned his back to change.

Spencer shuffled down the hallway, chewing on his lip. He really didn't want Aaron to leave. He had enjoyed having company again, enjoyed not having to be in his head and worry that he was doing something wrong. He wanted more time with him, to get to know him better. Spencer found himself sitting with his head in his hands racking his brain trying to come up with a way to get Aaron to stay when he heard Aaron walk into the living room.

He sat up quickly, but not quickly enough, because Aaron had a frown on his face, "Hey, everything okay, Spence?"

"Yes, I'm fine," he attempted. He'd never, surprisingly, had someone call him a nickname that wasn't mean before and it wasn't making it any easier.

Aaron walked over and dropped himself beside Spencer on the couch. A second later, he wrapped his arm around his shoulder and pulled him in so their bodies were touching.

"Respectfully, I don't believe you," Aaron said quietly. "I know what you're doing. Talk to me."

Spencer took a deep breath and tried to say what he was thinking without coming across as completely clingy and needy. "I... I just was thinking about how I wanna get to know you better... and how I don't want you to leave."

Aaron made a face of confusion, "Then why are you kicking me out?"

Spencer's eyes widened. "I'm not! I would never kick you out! I've enjoyed having you here... more than I probably should considering our situation."

Aaron squinted at him. "You were just acting the way people act when they want people to get the fuck out of their house."

Spencer groaned and shook his head. "That's not what I meant."

"I know. I'm glad you're willing to admit that," Aaron said with a smile, and Spencer nodded cautiously, "Do you believe me when I say I want to stay here?"

"No," Spencer said, quietly, looking at his hands that fumbled around in his lap.

Aaron bumped his shoulder into Spencer's. "I mean it when I said I like you. I said before that this isn't something I've done before, but if you want to, I think I'd like to keep getting to know you better."

Aaron looked very nervous, Spencer thought.

"Me too."

Aaron shot him a smile and Spencer reacted immediately, smiling wider than he probably should have. "I was thinking maybe we could date. See if we keep getting along as we get to know each other better?"

Spencer placed his hand on Aaron's knee, which got Aaron to turn to him completely, "I would like that very much."

"Thank God," Aaron said through a laugh. "I was trying to figure out how I was going to keep my hands off of you if you said no."

Spencer blushed again. "I would have the same problem with you," he admitted.

"So you're not kicking me out?" Aaron checked, his smile growing wider with each shade of red Spencer's face passed through.

"Definitely not."

* * *

When Derek returned to the apartment, Spencer was passed out on the couch with an empty La Croix in his left hand that was dangling off the cushion. He wasn't snoring, so he must have just dozed off about an hour ago, which probably meant that Aaron had left about an hour and two minutes ago.

He went to wake the brunette up and congratulate him on a successful one night stand, but he heard a clang from the kitchen and raised an eyebrow. It was obvious that Aaron was actually, in fact, still in the house, but the main question was _why?_

Aaron obviously didn't know that Derek had entered, because as soon as he heard footfall behind him he launched into a story that Derek knew wasn't intended for him. Something about gambling.

"Hey," Derek said, not wanting himself to hear anything gross that he didn't want to.

"Oh," Aaron jumped and turned around, sending a red-faced shy smile to the man standing in the doorway, "Sorry, thought you were... yeah."

"What are you doing?" Derek asked, trying to peek around Aaron's figure and see what he was tampering.

"Spencer fell asleep, but he was complaining about being hungry, so I made him a sandwich," Aaron held up the plate, "Do you know what chips he likes?"

"I'm sure anything you put on the plate, he'll eat," Derek muttered as he leaned on the counter, sporting a smirk that Aaron wasn't sure he understood. "So, how'd it go?"

"How'd what go?"

"The sex," Derek squinted at him, "What else would I be asking about, right now?"

"Something that wasn't sex, probably. But, uh, it was nice," Aaron said awkwardly, shifting in the kitchen. Derek wasn't sure if he should mention that Aaron was lacking a shirt, but if he did draw attention to it, he felt like Aaron might pass out. "I don't really know if I'm supposed to explain the mechanics of it, though."

"No, I understand how you do it," Derek laughed. He crossed his arms over his chest, but in a relaxed way, "I don't want to give you the whole spiel I give all of his boyfriends."

"Then don't," Aaron said, tilting his head and mimicking Derek's posture with a peppy smile on his face, "Just give me a bullet point list and I think I can manage."

Derek looked him over before saying, "How many boyfriends have you had?"

"Two."

"And how many of those have had an almost terminal case of anxiety and/or depression?"

"Neither had anxiety, both had depression," Aaron answered quickly. He was good at interviews. He could handle this.

"Well, Spencer has both. And do I want to ask how those other relationships ended?"

"You can ask, but I'll be super cryptic about it," the older man smiled, "But no, you can tell me you're gonna beat me up if I hurt him, because frankly if I hurt him I might throw myself off a bridge."

Derek squinted, "Do you have anxiety and depression?"

Aaron scoffed, "Duh. Can't you tell? I work with blood and needles for a living, that could only come from a dark place. Right?"

"I guess." Derek nodded, content with the man that stood before him. "I have a good feeling about you."

"Thanks?"

"Don't make me regret it."

Aaron looked at his feet and let his arms fall to his sides. Derek wasn't moving, just staring at him, so he cleared his throat, "You want a sandwich?"

"Sounds heavenly."

An hour and a few day drinks later, Spencer woke up to raucous laughter coming from the kitchen and a sandwich on the coffee table with a Post-it note reading _here's the food you wanted –_ _Aaron_ _._

He pushed himself off the couch with a groan, stretching his arms over his head and kicking his legs over the side of the cushions. He wondered how long he'd been asleep, and had it not been for the two most familiar laughs in his world ringing out from the kitchen, he would have totally passed out again. Last night was _intense_.

Spencer peeked around the corner. A few discarded beers on the counter gave him the impression that at least one of them was somewhat buzzed, and both of them were struggling to use their hands like normal people but nothing too worrying.

"And once I went to his house and the girl he would later be cheating on me with was there, and I was really jealous but I didn't say anything about it," Aaron said, laughing and gesturing with his hands, to a completely amused Derek, "And I beat myself up about it for like _years_ , but he would have cheated on me regardless. If I told him I wasn't a fan of her, he would have brought someone else home and I would have started all over again."

"Did you beat him up?"

"Couldn't if I tried," Aaron shrugged and raised his beer to his lips, and Spencer had to bite back a giggle at the bright pink straw that was poking out of it. Aaron chased the straw with his tongue, "He was a totally big guy."

Spencer looked down at himself. He wasn't what someone could classify a "big guy," but he didn't have any time to feel bad about himself before Aaron continued.

"I used to think that was my type, but like..." Aaron looked over somewhere in the direction of the fridge with a shy smile on his face. He nibbled on his lip, "… I don't know, when I saw Spencer, I didn't... like, I was willing to do anything for him."

Derek opened his mouth to say something, but he spotted Spencer in the doorway and waved him in, "Speaking of the angel!"

Aaron looked over and grinned widely, holding out an arm for the brunette, "Hi!"

"Heyyy," Spencer said, stepping into the space between Aaron's arm and his body, wrapping his own arm behind Aaron's neck. He blushed as Aaron leaned his head onto his chest, "What are you guys doing?"

"We're talking about past relationships," Derek piped up.

"Ooh," Aaron looked up at him, "How did you meet your last boyfriend?"

Spencer gave him a soft smile, "I met my last boyfriend in the parking lot of an old movie theater because we opened our doors into each other."

Aaron made an 'aw' noise, "That's so cute. Super wild."

"Well, we met because you took blood out of me," Spencer muttered.

After a long silence, he looked up to see both Derek and Aaron looking at him with half-misty eyes.

"What?" He asked, wondering if he said something wrong.

Aaron stood up, stumbling a bit, but gathered the brunette in his shirtless arms and hugged him tightly, "You just basically called us boyfriends."

Spencer blinked a few times, carefully winding himself into the hug as well, "Is that okay?"

"More than okay," Aaron pulled back just enough to kiss him. Derek clapped slowly from where he was sitting.

"You should probably stop drinking," Spencer mumbled to the two of them, "You'll regret it later."

"Probably, yes." Aaron's arm slipped around Spencer's shoulders and he pulled him close, "Do you wanna go do something?"

"Um..." Spencer thought for a moment, but before he could say anything, he was being dragged back to his room. "Where are we going?"

"You look like you want to have sex again," Aaron said plainly before ushering Spencer into the room and closing the door behind them. Derek was complaining, but no one cared enough to listen.

* * *

Spencer bounced up and down on his feet, silently pushing Derek to order his coffee just a little faster so that he could go to Aaron's house. Finally! After an entire three days of knowing Aaron, he was finally going to his house. And usually three days time after meeting someone wouldn't even account for one date, much less three dates and a visit to the other guy's house, but both Spencer and Aaron knew that they had something special.

Derek was purposefully taking his sweet time, Spencer knew that much. It wasn't that Derek didn't like Aaron, he certainly did, but he was certainly hesitant to allow his friend (who, a week ago, was lying unconscious in a bathtub) to go to another person's house by himself where nothing was familiar. Spencer, although overwhelmed by this amount of protectiveness from his friend, appreciated that he was cared for. But he also knew that Aaron would care for him too.

Spencer swung his arms back and forth as he waited, but jumped and almost screamed as he accidentally brushed his hand against someone else's behind him. He turned to apologize, "Hey, I-"

"It's no problem," the man smiled at him. Spencer let out a breath, a loud sigh and went to turn back around. "I'm Jeff."

"What?" Spencer's head whipped back around to look at him. If this guy was trying to hit on him, he was going to actually freak out.

"Woah," he held his hands out with a smile, "No need for any panic. I was merely introducing myself."

Spencer fought the urge to laugh in the guy's face. He hadn't heard the word _merely_ in upwards of a year. He actually would have laughed had it not been for the dread curdling in his stomach. "Cool."

"Well, what's your name?"

"Spencer," he said, completely disinterested and wanting the guy to know it. He turned back to Derek and tugged on his sleeve, "Please hurry, someone's hitting on me."

"I hear him. Just ignore him," Derek said over his shoulder, grabbing Spencer's wrist and tugging him over to the waiting area.

Spencer sighed in relief at being further away from Jeff, but he felt fingers in his back pocket and almost jumped six feet into the air. Derek gave him a look, to which Spencer just breathed as calmly (although still shaky) as he could.

"What-" Derek looked over Spencer's shoulder to see the sleazebag smirking at them. "What made you think that was at all okay?"

"It was just a bit of fun."

Derek turned Spencer around and plucked the napkin (with Jeff's name, address, and number on it) out of his back pocket. He was glad the coffee place he frequented was generally a wide space because Spencer would have been too overwhelmed in a small space.

"He isn't interested," Derek deadpanned, tucking the napkin into his own pocket. "But thanks."

"What, you two a couple?"

"Does it matter?" Derek asked, puffing up his chest subconsciously. Spencer wanted to roll his eyes, but if he took his mind off of counting to ten over and over again, he felt like he might faint.

"I suppose not. But you're obviously straight, so..." Jeff shrugged and looked forward. "He's on the market."

"Actually, I..."

Spencer considered saying he had a boyfriend. But he didn't want to lie because honestly, he wasn't quite sure what he and Aaron were. He felt it might be a stretch saying they were in a relationship after only three days of knowing each other. Plus, on the off-chance that he and Aaron would be walking out in the world and Jeff happened to walk by, he didn't want Jeff to start anything and make Aaron uncomfortable. Spencer shrunk in on himself, leaving the sentence hanging in the air. Jeff smirked again.

As soon as Derek got his coffee, they were out of there. Derek's face was red with rage and Spencer was still trying to get a grasp on his breathing.

"Can you believe some of these guys?" Derek banged his palms on the steering wheel before starting the car, "I bet he's closeted or something. No way he could be a dick like that and not be compensating for something."

"Do you think I should have said Aaron and I were dating?" Spencer asked quietly.

"If you weren't comfortable saying it, I'm glad you didn't. Plus, if you did, that asshole would have twisted it and made you panic even more," Derek dug the napkin out and leaned over Spencer's lap, opening the glove compartment to shove it inside and slamming it closed. "We can burn that tomorrow."

Spencer nodded slowly. He held his own hand and told himself that as soon as he got to Aaron's house he'd jump into the other man's arms and force him to cuddle until Spencer felt safe again.

And that was exactly what he did.

As soon as the door (of the ginormous house) was open enough for him to fit through, he leaped on Aaron. Literally. Aaron stumbled a bit, but Spencer knew he was an okay weight to be caught mid-air as a surprise, so he just clung to Aaron's neck and held onto him. Aaron made a surprised noise but just waved to Derek (who was sitting in the car and watching with an amused grin) before stepping inside all the way and closing the door.

"You okay, Spencer?" Aaron asked quietly, one arm around Spencer's waist and the other on his bottom (without any ulterior motives, both of them were assured).

"I missed you," Spencer said, his voice cracking like he was about to cry. "Some guy tried to hit on me in a coffee shop and it freaked me out."

Aaron frowned and kissed the side of Spencer's head, "I'm sorry. Was he an ass?"

"Total ass," Spencer agreed. He sniffed and pressed a lazy and relieved kiss to the side of Aaron's neck, "Sorry for jumping on you."

"I actually find this quite nice," Aaron bounced him a few times with a chuckle, "Wish I could have punched that guy though."

"He was the size of a lumberjack, Aaron, you would have broken your hand."

Aaron sighed, "You're right. But I would gladly go to the hospital for you."

"You gonna have my babies?" Spencer laughed.

"Believe me, if it was humanly possible, I would love to carry some small, intelligent angels in my lower abdomen for nine months," Aaron said with a sarcastic tone that didn't go amiss by Spencer, "However, no. But I'm willing to get broken bones because I protected you."

Spencer felt a warm feeling in his chest and leaned back so that he could see Aaron, who tightened his arm around his waist when he saw his face. Spencer blushed at Aaron's awed expression, "What?"

"When you jumped on me, I didn't get to see you," Aaron said shyly. He moved the arm around Spencer's back to run his fingers through the dark hair. "You're pretty."

"You're pretty too," Spencer tilted his head. "You gonna hold me the whole time I'm here?"

"No, but I'm definitely going to carry you through the entire house tour."

* * *

Spencer's legs bounced up and down, shaking the chair and making the most annoying noise a chair could possibly make. Some of the jitters were from his lack of Derek in the room with him (Derek had to work early that day), but he was most nervous to see Aaron like this again. He knew he had to do a re-test eventually, but he was nervous now because Aaron probably had the clipboard with all the test results on it. The test results that most likely read something about alprazolam and Dilaudid levels and a fucked-up liver. He was terrified that Aaron would see him differently in that light. He doubted it, but it was still there. And the longer he was in the waiting room, the more he thought about it, and it was slowly suffocating him.

When he heard Aaron call his name, he shot out of his seat and almost tripped over his feet. A few people looked up at him, but Spencer ducked his head and walked quickly across the room and under Aaron's arm. As soon as the heavy door closed behind them, Aaron placed his hands on Spencer's shoulders and looked in his eyes, "Hey, are you okay?"

Spencer grimaced, "Why do you ask?"

"Because you're much more nervous than you were last time you were here, and we've had sex since then," Aaron gave him a worried look before leaning in and gently pecking his lips. "Whatever you're nervous about, there's no need to be. It's just me."

"Can I..." Spencer pointed at the clipboard, "See that?"

"That's totally against the rules, but I have a feeling you aren't going to steal someone's identity. Stay on the top sheet, okay?" Aaron held the board out at arm's length and Spencer scanned over the words. "See anything you like?"

"Where are the test results?" Spencer asked, peeking over the clipboard at Aaron, who looked at him strangely.

"I just take the blood, babe. I don't know what the test results are unless the doctor purposefully thinks I need to know. Which, I'm pretty sure Dr. Cohen doesn't know we're, like, involved so she wouldn't tell me anything." Aaron stopped rambling and looked down at Spencer, "Why did you want to see the test results?"

"I just was curious as to what they found. I'm a doctor."

"This is news to me," Aaron dropped his arms to his sides with an impressed smile.

"Not _that_ kind of doctor," Spencer mumbled with a smile.

Aaron rolled his eyes at his humbleness and gestured for the brunette to follow him, "Sorry for the second appointment. Just a checkup, see if things are the same as a few days ago."

Spencer swallowed through a dry throat and pushed himself up into the uncomfortable chair. He pulled his sleeves down to his wrists while Aaron's back was turned and tapped his index fingers on the fake, beige leather.

"No need to be nervous, Spence," Aaron said through a sigh. He turned around and leaned on the counter, "I don't want to do this because I know it hurts you."

"Just a little pinch," Spencer said with a shy smile.

"Still. I'm gonna give you the really gentle treatment and use the numbing spray and the butterfly needle," Aaron walked across the small office space and opened a drawer labeled _Infants._

"Don't use the baby needle," Spencer pouted, "I'm a grown-up."

"Yeah, but you're my baby," Aaron muttered before gasping and turning to Spencer, "I _can_ _not_ believe I just said that."

"You're making all the blood go into my face," the brunette complained.

"At least it isn't going elsewhere?" Aaron kneeled next to Spencer and took his right hand this time. He wrapped the tourniquet around his wrist, "Okay, breathe."

"I am," Spencer said, squeezing his eyes closed. He felt cold against the back of his hand and smiled, "You're really using the baby stuff on me?"

"I told you before, yes, I am. Don't want to hurt you," Aaron constructed the needle, loud clicks in Spencer's ear. "Okay, here we go."

The second time took hardly any time, and Spencer almost frowned when he felt himself being patched up.

"Alright," Aaron pressed a finalizing kiss to Spencer's hand. "You're all set, beautiful."

"Thanks," Spencer said quietly. He stood, selfishly stealing another kiss before officially heading to the door. He heard Aaron whistling as he walked further away, but he couldn't just leave now. Not when there were so many things going through his mind, so many things to worry about.

He ran back down the hall and walked back in, startling Aaron.

"Aaron, are we dating?"

The other man's face went through many different emotions. He leaned on his counter, less to rest and more to balance himself. "I thought we were already, to be honest. Um... do you not want to?"

"No, no! I want to, I just didn't want to assume..." Spencer kicked an invisible pebble on the ground. "I... will I see you tonight?"

Aaron looked at him for a long time, "Stay."

"What?" Spencer looked up.

"Stay with me today. During work. Bring your boyfriend to work day." Aaron's face was practically blank but it was clear that he really didn't want Spencer to leave. He was begging with his eyes and Spencer could never turn down those damned eyes.

"Okay. I don't want to watch you put needles in people, though."

"There's a little curtain, um... here," Aaron reached over and pulled a turquoise curtain across its tracks, splitting the room in two. "You can hang out on the other side. If you want, I mean."

"Yeah, that sounds fun," Spencer said, laughing.

Aaron finally broke the blank façade and smiled, pulling Spencer into a gentle hug, "Thank you."

Spencer played on his phone for the most part. He grinned sometimes when Aaron would talk people through the "hurty parts," and no matter if it was an adult or a child, he would actually call them the "hurty parts." Between each patient, Aaron would peek around the curtain and check on him. Spencer thought it might have been funny if he stripped down before the next time Aaron checked on him, but he figured there was a lot of room for error there. So he settled on just his shirt, making sure he took it off during the last visit. It was worth the look on Aaron's face and the way he closed the curtain the rest of the way and held and kissed him like he hung the moon.

Aaron, after changing back into his people clothes and locking his locker back, took Spencer's hand and lead him to the parking lot to the car. Spencer had expressed concerns about not having an overnight bag, but Aaron confessed as he locked up the building that he had bought Spencer some clothes to keep at his house just in case. Spencer's heart melted in his chest.

"Hey, um..." Aaron stopped before they could get into the car. He looked torn for a moment, his eyes trailing over Spencer's face for a long while before carding his fingers through Spencer's hair and pulling him into a kiss. Spencer, although overwhelmed, accepted the kiss and fought the urge to push Aaron back onto the car.

Eventually, they had to break apart for air, and Spencer used the breath to ask, "What's that for?"

"I... It's the most annoying thing ever, probably, but I just can't stop thinking about you," Aaron admitted, looking away, "I've never known anyone like you. You're so amazing and kind and... so... so good at sex."

Spencer laughed and covered his face with his hands. Aaron gently dragged them away, though.

"I really don't want to lose you. I want you to know that," Aaron said carefully, making sure to get across what he wanted to. "I'm also not going to say the L word for the first time in the parking lot of a vampire clinic."

"...Lesbian?" Spencer asked, choking slightly on whatever happy emotion he was feeling.

Aaron rolled his eyes and kissed him again, "Get in the car, silly boy."

"Lasagna?" Spencer asked, slipping into the passenger seat. "Lamp?"

"You're _so_ close," Aaron beamed.

* * *

Aaron trailed careful fingers over Spencer's back as the brunette slept on his chest. It was officially five days since he had met him, and he was already in love with him. Which, according to Spencer's reaction earlier that night, wasn't a bad thing, but it felt like it was going too fast. Like, way too fast.

He hadn't dated in awhile. A long time, actually. And those relationships had been officially bust. He knew Spencer was special, though. He didn't have any traits that matched up with the guys he usually dated, and he felt as though he had been blind for a long time. As soon as he saw that nervous brunette, he knew he wanted to be with him for the rest of his life. And he didn't want to tell Spencer yet because he was terrified of scaring him away.

Plus, Spencer hadn't even known if they were dating before their visit yesterday, so he frankly wondered if Spencer had the opportunity to see anyone else than him in the past five days. Maybe sometime between their first meeting and their first date? But the only person he'd seen then was Derek...

Aaron reached across the empty side of the bed, careful not to wake Spencer up. He knew Derek was just a few rooms over, but if he got out of bed and woke Spencer up, he'd never forgive himself.

He was eighty percent sure that Derek was as straight as men came, but he also couldn't really be sure of that. If he knew hardly anything about Spencer in those five days, he certainly wasn't in any position to make assumptions about that friend.

 _"Um... hi."_

"Hi, sorry, I'm just... I had a question, and now as I'm on the phone with you, it's stupid."

 _"..._ _You were planning on asking me if I'm straight."_

"Yes? How'd you know?"

 _"It was bound to happen sooner or later. You're pretty protective."_

"Thanks, I think," Aaron looked down at the sleeping brunette and brushed his fingers through his tangled hair, "So... are you?"

 _"Am I what?"_

"Are you straight?" Aaron practically whined.

 _"Why, yes I am."_

Aaron made a relieved sigh and relaxed into the pillows that smelled overwhelmingly like Spencer.

 _"Feel better?"_

"Yes," Aaron admitted, "Thank you. I'll just... hang up, now."

 _"Alright, buddy."_

Aaron practically tossed his phone across the room when the call was over, wrapping himself around Spencer and allowing himself to sleep without worrying. He hoped the rest of Spencer's friends would be that easy and understanding.

A few hours later, Aaron was awoken by Spencer crawling back into bed with a phone pressed to his ear. He opened an eye, looking strangely at Spencer who slipped back into Aaron's arms.

"Hi, sorry... I had a question, but now that I called you it's stupid," Spencer said, pressing a kiss to Aaron's chest. The dark-haired man blinked himself awake. "Thanks."

"What are you... who are you talking to?" He grumbled, wondering what their name was so he could see if they went to his clinic.

"So, are you?" Spencer paused and looked up, making eye contact with Aaron, "Are you straight?"

Then Aaron caught on.

"Are you making fun of me?" Aaron frowned for a moment before frowning even deeper, "Wait, you heard that?"

"Yes!" Spencer laughed and gave Aaron his phone, "I would have actually called someone but I don't know your passcode."

"It's 1234," Aaron said with an eye roll, pressing a kiss to Spencer's forehead, "I'm a simple man. All my passwords are easy."

"Well, now I'm tempted to..." Spencer had a new sparkle in his eyes as he opened his phone, "Do you have any social medias?"

"No, I don't have a use for it. I have an email, though."

"Yeah, that's not gonna work," Spencer said. "I want you to get some social medias so we can post about each other all the time and be cute and stuff."

Aaron blushed at the thought, "I love that."

"I love _you_ ," Spencer said, not thinking about it. He opened Snapchat and held the phone out at an arm's length to take a picture of the two of them. He made a caption, picked a filter, and posted it before realizing the goofy smile on Aaron's face in the picture. He looked up at Aaron, "What?"

"You just said you loved me," Aaron mumbled.

Spencer looked horrified, "I..."

"You said it first!" Aaron said with a wide grin, "Look at you."

"You _implied_ it first..." Spencer blushed, "Aren't you gonna say it back?"

"If I must," Aaron pulled Spencer on top of him and kissed his nose, "I love you too."

"What do we do now?"

"What do you mean?" Aaron asked, confused.

"We fell in love with each other in five days," Spencer said, "What comes next?"

"Actually, for the record, I fell in love with you as soon as I saw you," Aaron waggled his eyebrows. He loved to make Spencer blush, "But I don't know. Let's just wing it like we always do."

Spencer nodded, propping himself up on his elbows to look over Aaron's face. "Sounds great."

* * *

Aaron tapped his hands nervously on his legs as he sat in Derek's car. He wasn't entirely sure when the plans had been made up, or if they had been made up in their entirety. The night before, Derek had walked into Spencer's room when the brunette was asleep and told Aaron they needed to go to lunch the next day. Aaron had originally thought maybe it was a joke, but when he saw Derek's face, he figured there was something they needed to talk about without Spencer able to just walk in.

That worried him. He knew that Derek wasn't interested in Spencer in _that_ way, and although that was a relief, there was a lot of room for worse things. Scary things. He could deal with some ex-boyfriends, he knew how to throw a punch, but Derek seemed like the kind of guy to just drop past relationships on the table, even around Spencer. So it made him increasingly uncomfortable when he was sitting in a car with the same guy that was probably going to say something that was meant to make him tuck tail and turn. But he wouldn't leave, he knew that much. That didn't necessarily mean he would like it.

Derek parked in the parking lot of an unfamiliar beige building and unlocked the doors, "I have to run in here real quick. Just hang out, I'll be right back."

Aaron nodded and sat back in the seat. He unbuckled his seatbelt and played percussion on every surface he possibly could, but he stared at the glove compartment. He was a nosy person, he knew that much, and he was genuinely interested in the possibility that Derek could completely intend to shoot him in the face.

That was his intention, he would swear by it. He was solely looking for a gun.

Instead, he found a napkin with a number on it.

Aaron smiled for just a moment, thinking about Derek sauntering into various places of business and picking up women, but then he saw the name that was written above it. It was highly unlikely that there was a woman named 'Jeff,' and if it wasn't a woman, it was even more unlikely that Derek would take a name and number from a man. Aaron cringed. That left Spencer that could have taken the number, which made his insides twist up. He told himself that it wasn't a recent occurrence, that Jeff was that asshole that hit on Spencer, but he stuffed it in his front pocket anyway to look at later.

Derek returned with a stack of papers that he put in the back seat. And they were off again.

They pulled into yet another coffee shop. Derek wasn't nearly as tense as Aaron was, but he was dreading this conversation anyway. Aaron stumbled out of the car, his shoulders tight and held up by his ears. The napkin was burning a hole in his pocket.

"Calm down," Derek said as he clapped him on the shoulder. He pointed Aaron to a table, "I'm not saying anything you couldn't have already figured out. Sit down, I'll get you something strong."

"Thanks..." Aaron nodded carefully, "I'll... yeah, thanks."

Aaron felt like his heart was going to burst out of his chest, but Derek reappeared with two coffees before he could really go into a panic attack mode. He wrapped his hands around the warm cup and smiled nervously.

"Deep breath, Aaron, we'll be in and out," Derek said, taking a sip of his coffee before setting it down. He folded his arms over each other and leaned forward, "Why do people usually go to your clinic?"

"Do you want me to..." Derek nodded at him, "Okay, um... usually it's for drug tests, but Spencer's chart said it was for his liver."

"Okay," Derek said.

Aaron waited for him to prompt another answer, but Derek just stared at him, asking a silent question.

"Um... usually liver problems come from alcoholism, or a drug addiction, or..." Aaron's eyebrows drew together, "Is Spencer an alcoholic?"

"No," Derek replied, "He's not."

"Will you just tell me, please?" Aaron asked, almost grimacing at how wanton he sounded, "I'm not going to leave just because he did something that made him get blood drawn."

"Alright," Derek nodded and shrugged, "Drug addict. Got too into it. Almost killed himself over it."

Aaron closed his mouth and thought about that for a moment. It made sense, certainly, but it broke his heart in two, right down the middle.

"I..." Aaron held his head up with his hand, "Why?"

"You'd have to ask him," Derek said, picking up his coffee again, "He hasn't told me and I'm the one who found him."

Aaron nodded and stood up, "Can we go?"

"Of course."

* * *

Spencer looked up from his book when he heard the door open and smiled when he saw Aaron step inside. "Hey."

"Hi," Aaron said quietly, looking Spencer over with a confused expression.

"Where's Morgan?" Spencer asked. Aaron was obviously distracted by _something_ , "What's happening?"

"Derek's staying at a friend's house tonight," Aaron took a few steps forward, his expression completely unreadable.

The brunette rolled his eyes with a laugh, "Do you plan on us being loud tonight?"

"No," Aaron shoved his hands into his pockets, "But I do wanna ask you some things if that's okay."

Spencer's face fell, "What?"

"No, no, it's not... it's not bad, I just..." The older man finally just sighed and crossed the room, gathering Spencer into his arms, "I love you."

"I... love you too," Spencer hugged him back, tightly. He wasn't sure what the occasion for the hug was, but if Aaron really needed it, he was willing to stand there all night, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong," Aaron assured him, not making any move to pull away from the embrace, "I just learned something new about you today that I'm glad I learned."

Spencer froze. "Did Derek..."

"Yes," Aaron sighed out, lifting Spencer up into his arms and wrapping his slim legs around his waist, "And as much as I want to ask questions about it, I think I just want to hold you for as long as I can."

"You can do both," Spencer mumbled to his own surprise, "I don't think I mind telling you things."

"Really?" Aaron asked, "You trust me with that?"

"I trust you with everything," the brunette replied, "Not sure if that's unhealthy or not, but I want to tell you everything."

Aaron kissed his cheek. He walked over to the couch and sunk into the cushions and reluctantly loosened his hold on Spencer so they could look at each other, "So why didn't you?"

"I don't know," Spencer shrugged, "I think I was worried you'd think of me differently..."

Aaron shook his head with a sad smile, "You really think that low of me?"

"No!" Spencer all but shouted, "No, I just... I don't know, it was irrational."

"I totally understand," he assured him.

"I promise I'm not, like, crazy or something," Spencer muttered, winding his fingers around Aaron's hair as he spoke, "Derek was on a work trip for a week and things got lonely."

"Is that all?" Aaron tilted his head.

"I think so..."

"If you don't want to tell me this, I'm not going to make you. But I seriously doubt that you were so lonely that you thought death by drugs was the best thing to do to occupy your time. You're smart, Spencer."

Spencer nodded, "It wasn't just 'cause I was lonely, but I guess that was a deciding factor," he sighed and crawled into Aaron's lap, "It sounds crazy when I say it out loud."

"It's good that it sounds crazy," Aaron took Spencer's free hand and pressed it to his lips, "If it didn't sound crazy, I'd be worried. I'm guessing the experience wasn't as easy as you imagined."

"No, it was super not fun," Spencer agreed, "It just felt like I was really sick like I had just gotten the flu or something."

Aaron thought for a moment. He just looked at Spencer for a long time before asking, "Did you regret it?"

"What?"

"Derek said you were sitting in the bathtub when he found you, so did you regret it?" Aaron intertwined their fingers.

"Yeah," Spencer shrugged, but his eyes were misty. "It's super weird when you're just sitting alone and all you can think about is how you're going to die soon."

"But you didn't."

"I didn't," Spencer confirmed.

"And I'm glad," Aaron continued.

Spencer turned his head and looked at Aaron with an odd smile on his face, "I felt like you were going to break up with me or something. Like... like, it wouldn't be a big deal to you because we've only known each other for a week now."

"There are two things that would be deal breakers in this relationship," Aaron kissed his cheek and gave him a smile, "And unless you plan on threatening to kill yourself in exchange for continuing to date me, or you plan on cheating on me and having a child with the other person while still in a relationship with me, I think you're safe to say that I plan to be with you for a long time."

Spencer's eyes widened, "Have people done those things to you?"

Aaron chuckled and nodded, "Duh!"

"Wow," the brunette said, "People suck, sometimes."

"Definitely," Aaron wrapped an arm around him and pulled him as close as he possibly could, "You don't."

"Sometimes I do," Spencer said quietly.

Aaron snorted. "Yes, but you get a free pass."

* * *

Things were going fast, and they certainly didn't show any sign of slowing.

Before Spencer knew it, he was over at Aaron's house every other day and when they weren't at the other house, Spencer had dragged Aaron back to his apartment for dinner with Derek and they always had an impromptu sleepover. Derek was warming up to Aaron, and Spencer was always beaming with pride when Derek would ask how his work was going, and Aaron would answer with something positive and full of hope for progress.

But it was scary. Sometimes Spencer would wake up and find himself wrapped around Aaron's waist like a heavy blanket and he'd wonder if this was okay. If forming a working relationship with routines and love within a month was okay. He wasn't yet sure how this kind of thing worked; he'd never dove headfirst into anything but a bowl of ice cream, so this was overwhelming. But good, at the same time. Confusing, definitely.

Everything was so easy. That was what was terrifying. He knew that Aaron had his own share of bad past boyfriends, and that severely narrowed the chances that Aaron would then project those terrible things onto him. Aaron was good. But he couldn't _not_ consider the possibility that maybe the fact that things were going so fast meant that the impending break up was approaching even faster, that when he hit the brick wall his guts would splatter everywhere and it would hurt so, so badly.

Aaron was worrying too.

He was aware of Spencer's internal battles. He was a light sleeper. He could feel Spencer wake up sometimes, hear him mumble as he thought about things. Aaron hadn't quite known the brunette long enough to know if he was someone to appreciate or loathe someone asking if he needed help, but if the pattern continued, he felt that he might have to.

Besides, how else would he explain what was going on in his own mind? All of those plans he was wondering about?

They hardly avoided each other. If anything, they were even closer. There wasn't but seconds in between moments that they were touching each other, and when Aaron went to work, Spencer would follow. He even had his own nametag. Things were routine. Routine was scary.

The worst part was that Derek welcomed the changes with open arms. He was basically pushing Spencer out of the house and into Aaron's bed, and even though he wanted approval, he didn't want it like _this_. Like Derek was counting the seconds until he'd get a break from the brunette.

"I'm not bored with you, Spencer," Derek said cooly, loading up the basket with frozen things that were on the opposite spectrum of healthy. "I'm just trusting you to realize when this gets too much."

"When what gets too much?"

Derek rolled his eyes. He grabbed a pint of ice cream, thought on it, and decided to grab another few coffee-flavored gelatos, because they never lasted long. "A relationship."

"Shut up! I'm good at relationships. I'm _great_ at relationships, actually," Spencer took a box of Drumsticks and tossed it into the basket. "I like Aaron a lot and I think we've got a lot of potential."

"Well, of course you do," Derek patted the side of his face, making the brunette grimace at the coldness of his fingers, "That's why every other night you call me panicking about something cute he did."

"I don't panic..."

"You certainly do _something,_ " Derek started to walk toward the registers, "Gay panic is fine, just unexpected in your case."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Spencer pouted, dragging his feet as he followed his friend, "I'm not experiencing gay panic."

"Aaron panic, then."

"No..."

"Okay, well," Derek sent a smile to the clerk before loading up the lifetime supply of ice cream and frozen comfort food onto the counter, "I wish you the best of luck with your endeavors in trying to lie to yourself, because I don't plan to strangle the truth out of you."

Spencer rolled his eyes, "Shut up."

A few hours later, when he shuffled into Aaron's house with a bag of ice cream in either hand, he was greeted with a nervous Aaron who quickly kissed his cheek and took the bags from him.

"Um... hello?" Spencer said, following Aaron into the kitchen, "You okay?"

"Yeah, I've just been thinking about a lot of things," Aaron said, his voice sounding normal but his entire body tense. He shoved the bags into the freezer before turning and leaning on the fridge.

"I've been thinking about things too," Spencer admitted, "I don't know if we're thinking about the same things, though. And it's kind of freaking me out."

"Same here," Aaron said, relieved as his shoulders slumped and he let out a sigh. "Do you want to go first?"

"Go first?"

"Like, we're both freaking out over something we could easily fix by just saying it out loud," Aaron tilted his head, "So let's just say it out loud."

Spencer squinted, "I... really?"

"I mean, if you don't want to, we don't have to. I just figure it might help you sleep," Aaron went to stand and make something to eat, but Spencer placed his arm on Aaron's before he could walk past him. "What?"

"Okay," Spencer nodded, "Let's just say it."

"On the count of three?" Aaron asked with an eyebrow raised.

"I guess."

"Okay."

"One," Spencer said with a nervous but equally sly smile, not moving his hand from Aaron's arm.

"Two," Aaron said warily.

"Three!" They both shouted before saying simultaneously, "I think we should move in together."

Aaron and Spencer stared at each other for a long time, mouths hung open in shock, before grinning widely and nodding to each other, somehow continuing to speak in unison, "I love you so much."


End file.
